Has anyone else seen this product advertised? Has anyone ever tried it or have any thoughts? Its a metal disc you put into your air intake to "upset" the air going into your engine giving you a better air/fuel ratio

 

Seen them but not sure if it works. Thought about buying one myself but just wasnt sure if I should spend the money in case they dont work. Will have to keep an eye on this one to find out for myself. Sorry I could not help you ,but if it turns out to be a good thing I will probably be buying one too. :) :seeya

 

Yes it WORKS!!!! It causes LOTS of cuts on fingers and hands as you get it into your air-duct. Performance wise.. BLAH... My 'ex' buddies' '88 vette actually got worse mileage with it inside.
IMO it is :bs

 

IT IS :bs :bs :bs :bs :bs :bs :bs :bs :bs :bs :bs :bs :bs :bs
The ideal situation is turbulant flow within the cylinder and laminar flow in the intake manifold.
Look at the advertisement closley. They use a flat bladed propeller to show that air is flowing straight down into the air intake. This is good, but they want you to think that it is bad. Then they generate a whirlwind to spin the flat bladed propeller. This bad but they want you to think that it is good. Somehow, taking the energy out of an efficient air flow to generate a tornado is an improvement ?????? once again :bs

 

...oh please - this thing is right up there with the "polarity" magnets that wrap around your fuel line to *align* the fuel molecules. What never ceases to amaze me, other than many consumers realization of the P.T. Barnum rule, is that so many people fail to observe the obvious: if the manufacturers, who spend BILLIONS on research and development to eke out an incremental improvement in fuel mileage and emissions cannot find any consistent benefit in such devices, why should you? Seriously, just because something is "patent pending" does not mean it has one wit of merit. Now on another level let's consider something else that should be obvious - this thing is a RESTRICTION in your air intake system...really all that bull about turbulence, c'mon, what you want is laminar air flow through the mass air flow sensor and your intake manifold (laminar airflow will be greater than airflow which is ricocheting all over the mass air flow sensor etc.

Okay, it should be pretty obvious where I stand. Still, I know that there are people out there who BELIEVE in such balderdash add on gimmicks...of course, many of them have altered their driving habits which automatically boosts mileage. Some others have cars with crippled sensors or components, in which case they would see an even better result from just replacing what ever is broken or worn out.

Thomas

 

If you will check the archives you will see that this product has been brought up many times. It cannot possibly do anything good for your car because it clearly does not have the words, "hotsy totsy" in the advertising. This is a dead giveaway everytime. :D

 

Actually, a little common sense would go a long way here.

How could putting more restrictions in the intake cause a benefit in any way what-so-ever? Even if the entire intake track were enlarged and made of this type of device, the swirling effect would be negated in the plenum, IMO.

Someone said, a fool and his money are soon parted. Yeah, it says it has a money back guarranty but most people just say heck with it and throw it in the corner of their garage and never ask for their money back. This is what they count on.

BIG JIM

 

sheesh, sorry guys, just asking.

 

I don't want to get flamed I just want to throw out a question.

Why does the '84 have swirl plates installed then?

I want to know, i'm not saying I believe the tornado works. Its just a question. :jester

 

That device is junk. I saw it on an infomercial. It defames Corvette owners.

On the infomercial it had some real old guy pimpin' it with a Hawaiian shirt who was shown with a white convertible C4. He has a young model girl in his arms, and says ' I don't know a lot about cars, but I sure know a lot about girls'. He then goes on to say how the tornado fuel saver is really easy to install, even on a corvette, and makes his car feel like it has more 'juice'.

Total B$. If anybody on here is like that its a shame. I bought my Corvette for performance. There is no way I will stand by a product thats advertising defames us all.

 

Personally, I think I'll just more "go fast" decals on my car. :D Sorry, I just couldn't resist.

A carb engine has wet induction so you want a rough surface that induces "swirl" to avoid fuel puddling in the manifold. That toy might even help there.

Our EFIs are dry induction so we want as smooth a path for smooth even air flow. This is why you can effectively smooth out the intake base runners as well as the exhaust runners, to imporve air flow velocity.

The only place we want "swirl" is within the combustion chamber to evenly distribute the charge. Since the fuel is sprayed onto the back of the valve, note the use of "swirl polished" in performance valves.

If you want a gimmick that realy works, cut back your spark plug ground electrodes. It's free and it adds about 8-10hp.

 

Well, actually, only PORT fuel injection is mixed in the combustion chamber. Throttle-body injection mixes air and fuel outside the combustion chamber. At least that's the way I always thought of it anyway.

BTW, I had an '84 and didn't notice any swirl plates. That doesn't mean they weren't there. The car was totaled a few months after purchase. I didn't have time to look at everything.

BIG JIM


[Modified by BIG JIM 54, 6:54 AM 8/29/2002]

 

It's a common mod to grind the swirl plates down to flow more air. It's going to be hard to get a pic up though.

 

Yup is good for 2 things.


An amazing rip off.

and

An amazing amount of laughter.

 

:bs :bs :bs

 

Alright well let me throw a little bit more wood on this fire. I believe somebody already mentioned it above, turbulent air in the CYLINDER can be a good thing.

A friend of mine works at the local performance shop and has been experimenting around. On the intake ports of the cylinder head a mirror polish isn't always the best bet. There are certain stones that can be used to give a very slight rough texture to the sides of the intake ports, while polishing the runner floor and the short turn.

On some heads this will kill airflow, on others it doesn't hurt at all. Testing has proven that on heads where this doesn't impede airflow it actually helps to build a little bit of extra HP. It's not that much extra, maybe 5 or so, but every little bit helps. No on heads where it kills airflow to use the rough texture it is certainly counter productive.

What you look for is a much finer grit than the stock casting, so don't let that confuse the situation. It is still pretty smooth, it's just obviously not a mirror polish.

Now as was also mentioned above, the air has to get to the head before this can ever help. As such keep everything else as smooth as possible. In the case of my intake it's runners have a mirror polish and have been gasket matched along with the heads.

Take the money you would spend on the TORNADO and spend it on something useful.

 

It looks like it would work as a good chopper though. :lol:

 

I weighed my options and decided to spend my money on the pocket fisherman instead. Anyone interested in a used "Flow-bee" hair clipper :jester

 

"On the infomercial it had some real old guy pimpin' it with a Hawaiian shirt who was shown with a white convertible C4. He has a young model girl in his arms"

What's wrong with an old guy with a young gal?? :D

 

Sport Compact Car actually tested the tornado on the dyno, and for fuel milage. The tornado restricted airflow and the car produced less hp and less mpg.

This was about a year ago. I think they no longer accept the advertisement in their magazine.